A new PPC-10G ultra-high throughput millimeter wave link has now been successfully installed at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum University (RUB) in Germany. The installation was completed by Omnitron Griese GmbH which is a partner company of ELVA-1, a leading supplier of mm-wave scientific equipment for German universities. The link works at E-band 71-76 & 81-86 GHz, which is light licensed frequency band in Germany. A Light License band is where the licensee pays a small licence fee to register his/her radio link with regional regulators.
The new PPC-10G link is intended to connect two university campuses at a distance of 3840 m (2.4 miles). Omnitron’s and RUB’s Computing Networks Department personnel worked together on this project to establish true 10 Gbps wireless connectivity. The radio is equipped with a 60 cm antenna by default; however, other antenna sizes are also available. The PPC-10G is normally mounted on a rooftop or a tower location, and contains slots for SFP/SFP+ modules to connect to a LAN/WAN network.
The PPC-10G is IP radio link, providing up to 10 Gbps full-duplex throughput. The link is intended for point-to-point applications such as 4G/LTE/5G Backhaul, Corporate Campus Networks, IPTV, and other Wireless ISP backbones. All ELVA-1 links are designed for interconnection between remote WAN/LAN segments that located on the sites with no fixed line broadband connection. Typically, this is for landscape or industrial barriers or ecology restrictions for ground cable laying like national park, river, lake, airport/railway area, private land, etc.
The RUB Computing Networks Department chose ELVA 10 Gbps to speed-up of setting new 10 Gigabit Ethernet connection between campus buildings. The other reason was to save money as for 10G fiber rent they would pay 4500 € per month and huge development costs of 60000 € to bring the fiber between the buildings. Moreover, the university was interested to try the modern 76 GHz wireless technology. PPC-10G is significantly less expensive.
